Staff at a crisis-hit Welsh university have told The Eye an official scheme to get rid of people is a “farce” amid claims from academics that they are too afraid to speak out publicly about the “chaos” and contentious campus name-changes, but officials have said to us the controversial Vice-Chancellor is working “working normally”.

One of our contacts at Cardiff Metropolitan University (CMU) has warned that the best staff left under the Voluntary Severance (VS) scheme and others were ‘persuaded’ to leave.

Staff say they are under suspicion

A source said that in a case after VS, a vacancy was soon re-advertised even though the post was not meant to be filled for two years.

“VS people’s jobs were not supppsed to be replaced within two years but this has not been the case, e.g. (one top executive) was given a ‘persuading conversation’ to leave and took VS.

“That … vacancy was advertised this summer.”

Staff have also claimed to us that senior officials have effectively been “brought in” by Professor Aitchison from previous educational institutions where she has worked, and they are simply not up to the job.

Among the other controversial changes at CMU brought in under her rule have been name-changes.

Cyncoed campus – ‘Eastern’

The Cyncoed campus in Cardiff has been labelled ‘Eastern’ and Llandaff on the A48 is ‘Western’ but the alterations have been condemned by staff.

One of our sources described the idea as “madcap” and that it “makes the campuses sound like leisure centres”.

Adverts for a senior executive post at the former Cyncoed campus reveal the truth where Cyncoed is given as the “Eastern Community Campus”.

Advert for a senior post at the ‘Eastern’ campus

We have also been given details of alleged “bullying” in a “toxic” atmosphere, and a different staff member got into trouble for “not eating a sandwich within the designated lunch hour” when officials from Human Resources were called in.

The event became notorious within CMU as the ‘sandwich saga’.

Are CMU staff afraid of speaking out publicly?

Another said to The Eye: “It has become obvious amongst all of us that anyone in CMU mentioning(The) Eye is immediately under suspicion for being one of your sources.

“They are afraid of the truth about the shambles … at CMU getting out into the mainstream media.

The UCU say a health and wellbeing survey was postponed

“Even UCU(University and College Union)colleagues are afraid to speak out which is indicative of the atmosphere here.”

Internal information appears to confirm what we have been told, and documents show that CMU has set an ambitious target of reaching a level of 26,425 students by 2023, an increase of 8,810 on today’s figure of 17,615, while staff claim they are under-resourced for an enlargement on this scale and students are being admitted who simply cannot cope with degree work.

The embattled VC and her key officials have begun a major structural change to accommodate the new students, but academics remain deeply unhappy.